Gear shaping machine



3 Sheets-Sheet l Filed NOV. 50, 1949 IIO ,.4...........|-a..mHit I nhl 'IIT T INVENTOR. WALTER S. PRAEG WHY ,M'

ATTORNEYS Dec. 15, 1953 w. s. PRAEG 2,662,449

GEAR SHAPING MACHINE Filed NOV. 50. 1949 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 FIG.2.

INVENTOR. WALTER S. PRAEG ATTO RNEYS DC- 15, 1953 w. s. PRAEG GEAR SHAPING MACHINE 3 Sheets-Shea?l 5 Filed NOV. 30, 1949 a... m F

INVENTOR. WALTER S. PRAEG ATTORNEYS Eatentcd Dec. l5, 1953 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE :2,662,449 GEAR SHAPING `MACHINE YWalter S. Praeg, Detroit, Mich., assigner, 'by mesme assignments, to The Fellows vGear `Shaper Company, Springfield, Vt., a corpora- 'tion of lVermont Application November 30, 1949, Serial N o. `130,244

(Cl. SII-8) 3 Claims.

The present invention relates etoia Vgear.shaping machine.

It is an object of the .present invention :to pro vide a gear shaping machine designed to employ a rack type cutter 'for shaper cutting Aeither spur or helical gears.

It is a further object of vthe present invention to provide a gear shaping machine employing :a gear shaper lcutter of rack type in .which the toothed portion is flexible .in use so as to introduce cutting clearance.

lt is a further object of :the present invention to provide a simplied 'gear cutting machine characterized bythe use of a master spur :rack and a spur Vtype cutter, employing a .master gear of a helix angle selected in accordance .with the helix angle of the teeth to be cut on a gear blank.

Other objects and .features of 'theinvention will becorne apparent as the description proceeds, especially when taken in conjunction with Athe accompanying drawings, wherein-z Figure 1 is a front elevation of a gear shaping machine constructed in accordance with the present invention with parts brokenaway.

Figure 2 is a transverse sectional view .of the machine illustrated in Figure '1.

Figure 3 is an elevational view oitheworlrsup.- porting Lxture showing the'relationship between the gear blank and cutter and the .-master gear and rack.

Figure iis a vfragmentary plan .View .partlyin section on the line 4-l, Figure 2.

Figure 5 is a plan view ofthe Work support tooling.

Figure 6 is an enlarged Asectional view .of the cutterand cutter actuating mechanism.

The gear shaping `machine illustrated in the figures comprises a base i having .longitudinal Ways indicated generally at I2 forsupporting a tool head I3, and parallel longitudinal Ways indicated generally at Ill for supportinga'workcaru rlage l5.

As best seen in Figure 1, the base or `frame I0 houses a motor it which throughrsuitablechange gears il and il! drives a Worm I9 which in :turn drives a Worm gear 2li secured to the Vvertically extending shaft 2t which at its upper end carries a bevel gear 22. This gear drives a-second bevel gear 23 connected to a iced screw 24 engaginga feed nut 25 secured to the underside of the work carriage I5. Obviously, the motor is thus effective to reciprocate the work carriage I along `the Ways It.

Carried bythe Work'table I5 vis a workfsupportingxture or tooling device 36 `which includes a the spindle Sil for supporting one or a plurality of gear blanks to be cut, one of "these gear blanks being indicated at W. At its lower end the spinn dle .3!! carries a master gear 3.

Located 'inside an elongated recess il@ .provided inthe base 'It -is a master rack .which comprises a rst stationary rack portion @i rigidly bolted as indicated in yFigure 2, to the base. Adjacent the'underside of the'racl; portion oi the member it vis a vsecond rack element 1li which is mounted for adjustment 'in a directionparallel tothe direction ci the vracks All v.and 42. The rack .portion '52 is secured in placebybo'lts which extend through elongated lslots formed `in .the rack member cured on the lower end of the spindle Srl and In Figure 2 'for purposes oi clarity, the master gear '36 and rhence the gear to be cut, is illustrated as .a spur gear. However, the invention is directed primarily to the production of helical gears and for this vpurpose the master gear will normally A'be a :helical vgear having the saine helix angle as the helix angle desired to be out on the geariblank. The relationship is best illustrated in Figure 3 in which a Work supporting xture or tooling device ris indicated lat it as comprising. cylindrical housing t?. in which is mounted a spindles@ similar in all respects-to the spindle-34 previously described. In'this case ho\v ever, fthe master gear-5t` `is a helical vgear designed to mesh Withthe master rack il, 4t2. Shaping of the gear isiefected by a rack-like gear Shaper cutter C which has spur teeth `formed thereon.

'The vrelationship betweenthe cutter C, 'the *ee-o blank W,the master gear andthe master 4I, l2 controls the typeof gear being cut. Thv pitch diameter of the'gear W will of course essarily beequal tothe eiective pitch dianiet.. the master gear 5t. The pitch and tro acteristics ofthe gear W will depend -upov toothgcharacteristics-of the cutter C. f, unnecessary to khave the same nunibe in the master :gear as are formed in v W, and in fact it may be desirable to employ a fine pitch master gear and rack so as to increase rigidity and neness of control.

For practical reasons it will ordinarily be preferable to provide a separate removable and rcplaceable work supporting fixture for each diiferent helix angle of gear. However, it is within the contemplation of the present invention that the cylindrical housing 52 may be adjustably supported on the xture and for this purpose there is indicated in dotted lines at 58 a circular plate or pair of plates to which the cylindrical housing 52 may be adjustably secured, in such case as will be obvious to those skilled in the art, the adjustable cylindrical housing 52 may be provided with a circular plate or plates having arcuate slots through which suitable clamping bolts may extend into the corresponding circular plate or plates provided on the fixture.

In order to obtain the full benefit of the present invention a iiexible rack type cutter is employed.

Referring now to Figure 6, the prises a toothed bar 6D, a base bar 52, and a flexible web tis interconnecting` the bars. The cutter C is rigidly mounted in a block t carried by a vertically movable slide S8 for imparting vertical reciprocation thereto. The block 55 is bolted to the front face of the slide $8 and has a recess 'iii for receiving a forwardly projecting rib "i2 on the front surface of the slide 63. Above and below the recess '|61 and the rib l2, the block E5 and the slide 68 are provided with inclined surfaces 'iii as is more apparent from an inspection of Figure 4. The rib 'i2 has clearance with respect to the bottom of the recess 'it so that the block 65 takes bearing against the inclined surfaces on the slide when the bolts it are tightened down. As best seen in Figure l, the bolts 'ES extend through latcutter C comerally elongated slots 'i8 formed in the block Qt. f

When the bolts 'it are loosened the block te may be adjusted longitudinally of the rack by screws 'Vi so as to effect slight adjustment of the cutter C in a direction toward or away from the gear blank W. Such adjustment is desirable in order to compensate for regrinding the cutter. It will be observed that the forwardly extending portion of the block '6G comprises a pair of abutments i9 and 89 which are spaced from the tooth bar S when the cutter is in intermediate position. Means are provided for flexing the cutter against one or the other abutments l or 89, depending upon the direction of reciprocation, and the abutments therefore determine the amount of cutting clearance which is thus introduced. By this construction it is possible to cut on both the up and the down stroke which greatly increases the productivity of the machine.

Additional means are provided for effecting adjustment of the work supporting fixture 3Q (or 50) toward and away from the cutter C. For this purpose the fixture 3B is provided with an inclined slot 90 in which is received a key 92. The xture 3! is provided with adjustment screws 9d. When one of the screws @d is retracted and the opposite one advanced, the xture 3d is moved longitudinally relatively to the key 92, thus effecting a very fine adjustment toward or away from the cutter. The fixture is provided with elongated slots et through which the locking screws 98 extend so as to permit the aforesaid adjustment.

The means for flexing the cutter against one or the other of the abutments i5 or 80 comprises a preflex slide S2 which has portions slidablj7 related to the cutter Slide 63. Extending forwardly from the preflex slide 82 and 86. These fingers are adapted to lie close to .the upper and lower sides of the tooth bar 60 respectively. Sufficient clearance exists between the fingers and the tooth bar to permit rocking of the tooth bar into position with either the upper abutment 19 or the lower abutment S0. The members carrying the lingers 84 and 86 are provided with openings 8! therethrough to afford access to the heads of the bolts 'iii so that the block 66 may be loosened and adjusted without removing the preflexing fingers.

The means for effecting the cutting stroke of the cutter, as best illustrated in Figure 2, comprises a motor |00 mounted in the cutter head. As previously stated, the cutter head is adjusted along the ways I2 and for effecting this adjustment a conventional feed screw and nut indicated generally at |62 is provided. This is a hand adjustment and is to place the cutter head proper position when a fixture for supporting a helical gear is used on the machine. The motor |68 is provided with a pulley me which drives a second pulley |08 through a V-belt or the like |08. The pulley |96 is secured to a transversely extending shaft l0 which at its opposite end carries a gear Il?. meshing with a companion gear IIA carrying a bevel gear which drives the bevel gear liti keyed. or otherwise secured to the shaft H3. At the front of the machine the shaft H8 has a head l2@ thereon including ways for adjustably mounting a crank supporting slide |22, this slide being adjustable to vary the throw of the crank by an adjusting bolt |213. Extending forwardly from the slide |22 is a drive pin which includes a cylindrical portion |25 and a camming portion |28. The cylindrical portion |25 has a linl; |30 secured thereto which is connected by means of a pivot connection |32 to the cutter slide E38. The preflex slide 82 has connected thereto a link i3d carrying at its upper end a plurality of rollers |36 engaging the cam |23. The cam |23 is provided with a substantially 180 degrees raised portion and as the crank revolves it effects relative movement between the slides 58 and 82. The arrangement is such that on the downstrolze of the cutter C the cutter bar is flexed upwardly against the stop 'i3 so as to introduce cutting clearance in back of the cutting edges. When the cutter reaches its lowermost position and is in clearance with respect to the work piece, relative movement between the slides til and 82 causes the preflexing finger 84 to force the cutter downwardly into engagement with the abutment 8S, thus conditioning the cutter for a subsequent cutting stroke in the upper direction.

Suitable automatic means are provided for controlling a cycle of the machine and include a control switch lls for the motor |6. There is provided a lever |42 pivoted as indicated at N4 and comprises an upwardly extending hand lever |46 including a portion in position to be engaged by one or the other of the adjustable dogs |48. The lever |Ll2 includes a portion engaging a spring pressed lever |50 having recesses formed therein for engagement with the hand of the lever so as to retain it in either limiting position. Obviously, this arrangement permits a cutting cycle tc be carried out and automatically terminated when the work carriage reaches a predetermined limiting position. If desired, the next cycle may be accompanied by a return reciprocation of the work carriage.

As a result of the present invention it is possible to use a single spur type rack for cutting a are preflex ngers S4 series of gears of different helix angles. Moreover, it is possible to employ a spur cutter of iexible type. While it is possible to cut helical gears with a exible cutter having inclined teeth, this results in non-uniform cutting action since the rocking of the cutting teeth into clearance position is accompanied by a lateral displacement relative to the Work so that there is a tendency for such inclined rack type cutter teeth to eut more heavily rst on one side and then the other side of the engaged gear teeth.

Moreover, the present apparatus provides for great simplification and reduction of number of master rack teeth of said having teeth meshing With the master gear so as to impart a parallel to the teeth of said racl 3. A gear shaper as defined in claim 2 which has an abutment adjacent to the tooth carrying portion of said cutter to limit the deiiection thereof.

WALTER S. PRAEG.

References Cited in the le of this patent Number UNITED STATES PATENTS Name Date Jones Dec. 12, 1922 Aeppli 1 Sept. 13, 1938 Forster Nov. 26, 1940 Meier Aug. 3, 1943 Pigott Oct. 9, 1945 Laesser Dec. 2, 1947 

